Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes $1.73 Million Position in Essential Utilities Inc. $WTRG

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,726,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WTRG. Pekao Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Utilities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,547,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Utilities by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 99,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,968,000 after purchasing an additional 28,329 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 21.1% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 257,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,278,000 after purchasing an additional 44,855 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Essential Utilities by 16.4% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 966,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,571,000 after purchasing an additional 135,899 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Utilities by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,709,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,091,000 after purchasing an additional 29,904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Essential Utilities News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Essential Utilities this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts kept Essential Utilities at a consensus “Hold” rating, suggesting limited near-term conviction either way. Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research lowered its FY2026 EPS forecast for Essential Utilities to $2.10 from $2.24, signaling softer near-term earnings expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks also trimmed its Q4 2026 EPS estimate to $0.54 from $0.57, adding to the cautious tone on the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: The firm raised several longer-dated estimates, including Q1 2027 and FY2028, which suggests analysts still see earnings growth potential over time.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WTRG shares. Argus upgraded shares of Essential Utilities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $41.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Essential Utilities in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.80.

Essential Utilities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WTRG opened at $36.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.00. Essential Utilities Inc. has a one year low of $36.32 and a one year high of $42.37.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $861.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.90 million. Essential Utilities had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 21.82%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essential Utilities Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Company Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, formerly known as Aqua America, is a publicly traded water and natural gas utility holding company. Through its regulated water and wastewater subsidiaries, the company provides essential water services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. In addition, Essential Utilities delivers natural gas distribution services in Pennsylvania through its Peoples Gas subsidiary, offering integrated utility solutions under a unified corporate framework.

The company traces its roots to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, founded in 1886 to serve growing communities outside Philadelphia.